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[Always-honest]

I truly believe that's all it is. I mean, I love a good steak. My wife doesn't care for steak at all, everybody likes different things. It's not a difficult concept really.

No that concept is easy and understandable.
Unfortunately i don't think that's the only reason. I think there is at least some level of ignorance, insecurity, stubbornness or fanboyism, (etc). involved with some of the people who say they don't like anything that Nintendo makes. I'm prepared to believe that is only a small percentage though. It's not like i could ever prove it anyway and i don't really care if people limit themselves in any way. I consider myself blessed that i can find joy and challenge in most genres on almost any format. Same with music, books, movies, and even people.

 

[MYE]

Ahh this thread delivers. Nothing cracks me up as much as the pearl-clutching of Nintendo fans panicked to awake a world were not everyone likes what they like.

Is that what's happening?

 

[thetrin]

Not liking Nintendo games would suggest not that you don't like a certain type of game, but that you ONLY LIKE a certain type of games.

Disliking a wide swath of games purely because of the name on the box is either being narrow minded, or being absurdly particular about what you're willing to play.

Not liking Nintendo games is basically saying you don't like platformers, RPGs, puzzle games, strategy RPGs, adventure games or mascot racing games.

 

[Hedja]

While I just spent two posts defending those who don't really like many Nintendo games, I will rebut this particular concept.

Nintendo has published literally thousands of games at this point, ranging from big epic games like Zelda to quirky downloadable titles or retail releases like Rhythm Heaven.

If you honestly dislike the whole of them, then frankly that represents a mental block which cannot possibly be reasonable. It would be like me saying I dislike every single movie Columbia/Tristar pictures has ever produced; there are so many movies spanning so many genres with everything from wide critical acclaim to huge popular reception to everything in between, that no reasonable movie lover could ever say such a thing without exhibiting some form of bias.

If I said, "I generally don't like the stuff Columbia/Tristar produces?" Sure, that's possible. Maybe they produce significantly fewer films I'm interested in than does, say, Warner Brothers, and given limited time to watch movies I pretty much always watch other films. But if you simply cannot find a single one that interests you -- be that a Columbia/Tristar film or a Nintendo game -- that represents a mental block that is very unlikely to be based on sound reason.

I think this was what the OP was trying to get at. Well said, I agree.

 

[randomkid]

I agree it's pretty silly to not find ANY Nintendo games appealing and I've never understood it. I feel the same way about people who are fans of Nintendo games but can't find anything to play on other consoles/PCs. Everyone's free to have their preferences but if you love an entire suite of Nintendo games of many genres but sniff at other console libraries you're a little suspect haha.

 

[Jamix012]

I feel there have actually been some interesting answers so far
- Similar design philosophies
- Less story based games
- Not liking many Nintendo games and then generally saying that "one doesn't like Nintendo games"
but at the same time it does seem a lot of people are just ignoring Nintendo for the sake of ignoring Nintendo.

 

[Opiate]

Since the topic has been breached, I'd also point out that Nintendo's broad focus is also a significant contributor to their relative struggles getting major support from the big publishers like EA, Take 2, ActivisionBlizzard and Ubisoft.

Those companies (particularly EA and Take 2) are more narrowly focused on the 18-35 male demographic, with their big titles being things like Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed, Fifa and Madden -- a dudebro shooter, a game literally about assassinating people, and sports games. For those sorts of companies, Nintendo's platforms, even with a large install base, are not ideal. Even a system like the Wii, with 100M total owners, may only have 30M who fit the demographic of people they're going for, while the PS3/360 have smaller total install bases but a much heavier concentration of the demographic EA/Take 2/etc. are after.

If you want further evidence of this, consider things like Kinect and Facebook, which also have broad appeal, are also generally denigrated on places like NeoGAF, and get very weak support from the major publishers despite being big hits (Kinect has trailed off, but I would argue mostly because the software support has been so weak, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy).

These major publishers do better on platforms which focus more intensely on the 16-35 demo, and both the Playstation and Xbox do that.

 

[dark_prinny]

While I just spent two posts defending those who don't really like many Nintendo games, I will rebut this particular concept.

Nintendo has published literally thousands of games at this point, ranging from big epic games like Zelda to quirky downloadable titles or retail releases like Rhythm Heaven.

If you honestly dislike the whole of them, then frankly that represents a mental block which cannot possibly be reasonable. It would be like me saying I dislike every single movie Columbia/Tristar pictures has ever produced; there are so many movies spanning so many genres with everything from wide critical acclaim to huge popular reception to everything in between, that no reasonable movie lover could ever say such a thing without exhibiting some form of bias.

If I said, "I generally don't like the stuff Columbia/Tristar produces?" Sure, that's possible. Maybe they produce significantly fewer films I'm interested in than does, say, Warner Brothers, and given limited time to watch movies I pretty much always watch other films. But if you simply cannot find a single one that interests you -- be that a Columbia/Tristar film or a Nintendo game -- that represents a mental block that is very unlikely to be based on sound reason.

Well, I can agree with this.

 

[calder]

Is that what's happening?

It absolutely is.

 

[jcm]

Last gen over 100m people chose not to buy a system that could play nintendo games, even though they were buying a console, and the Nintendo console was much cheaper. Acting like someone is aberrant because they aren't much interested in Nintendo games flies in the face actual experience.

 

[MYE]

I put a couple of hours into the first one when I had the trilogy collection on Wii but it bored me so heavily that I stopped playing and eventually sold it when I ditched the Wii. Granted it's a pretty old game by now but in this era of the FPS I've played a lot more interesting ones.

You played 2 hours of MPT and you call it a first person shooter?

 

[Falcs]

It's the whole kiddy thing. Not enough mature content. I'm in my late twenties and Nintendo games are like a guilty pleasure for me. I like them probably mostly for the nostalgia since I grew up with Nintendo. But I feel so immature and childish playing them.
Skyward sword felt like such a kid's game, and it was embarrassing playing it in front of my wife.
Not to mention the shitty motion gimmicks. I felt like an idiot sitting there waving my wrist around.

 

[chaosblade]

People don't think in specifics though.
And it's not something that only Nintendo suffers from.
Many people would say something like 'I don't like MS games. All there is, is shooters and dudebro shit.' Which is factually incorrect, but when you think 'Microsoft' you relate it to 'Halo' not 'Viva Pinata'. It's ALL about brand identity. (Which Microsoft understands, and is in the process of changing to appeal to a larger demographic.)
The philosophy is reflected in the software and hardware, they're businesses, it's in the products.

Maybe I'm just thinking about it too literally. Like I said on the last page, I don't think this makes much sense to apply to a publisher, especially once that releases so many types of games. Whether it's Nintendo, Sony, Activision, or whoever.

But considering that other than Mario I don't care for Nintendo's headline games (stuff like Zelda and Pokemon) I don't really view them the same way as others. Same applies to Sony (and really, a lot of companies), I tend to like their smaller franchises like Wipeout more than the big guns.

 

[shinobi602]

/rips hair out

Lol, somebody doesn't like a game you like, it's OK.

Derrick doesn't like 90% of the games I do, people enjoy different shit. Just enjoy whatever you do man

 

[Amir0x]

This SO much. I mean, I still love Mario/Zelda games, but I don't need more than 1 a gen (Unless the second is as good as Majora's Mask ). More Xenoblade/Kid Icarus type new IP's with a (Decently) big budget and advertising please.

Yeah me too. It's frustrating because Nintendo is so talented and every year with them is like a treadmill... here we go more Mario more Zelda more Metroid and here's one single game with a decent budget that is aimed at hardcore folk but it has the marketing war chest equivalent to a pack of cigarettes.

Nintendo needs to expand their portfolio of major core IPs anyway if they want to survive into the future, because every time they get a system which third parties end up ignoring, the variety of games depends almost entirely on them. And if 80% or more are games with variations of the same worlds, themes and characters as Nintendo has had since NES, it eliminates much of the appeal of buying a NEW game.

I just hope Wii U's situation will lead toward them getting really ambitious with their game productions and marketing, but we'll see.

 

[Metal B]

If you really think someone that loves Smash Bros. will REPLACE it with Street Fighter IV, you are wrong.

What the hell are you talking about?
People who love Gran Turismo properly don't wanna play Wipeout.
People who love Rayman properly don't wanna play Super Mario Bros.
Bu there still all part of the same genre. There simple have different game mechanics. Not every fighting games has to be a Street Fighter clone, like every racing game fan has to like all racing games.

 

[Derrick01]

You played 2 hours of MPT and you call it a third person shooter?

I know I'm having eye problems lately but I'm pretty sure I wrote FPS.

 

[whyreggielie]

I have a friend who recently started making a Link costume out of nowhere, he is not a Nintendo fan by any means and has nothing good to say about them. However, he bought a 3DS for Kingdom Hearts and decided to play OOT 3D for the first time, all of a sudden he's the biggest Zelda fan out there.

Yet he still rags on Nintendo consoles and games and has not played any other Zelda because he refuses to buy the consoles. Only because in his eyes Nintendo is not cool, he is missing out because someone has convinced him that Nintendo is kiddy or something to that effect. It's just a bias people have developed because of someone else's opinion. Either that or competition, one of my favorite console's of all time is the PS2 and that has not stopped me from enjoying all types of games from all 3 competitors.

 

[Vampirolol]

I put a couple of hours into the first one when I had the trilogy collection on Wii but it bored me so heavily that I stopped playing and eventually sold it when I ditched the Wii. Granted it's a pretty old game by now but in this era of the FPS I've played a lot more interesting ones.

As an FPS it lacks rhythm and design. It's never meant to be an fps in fact, it's just an adventure game based on backtracking and perfect level design. I can see someone being bored with it, I got bored in the first hours, then I realized it was my favourite game of all time. It still holds up pretty well, just take that scan/xray/thermal visor thing that many games copied this gen, nothing beats it to me. But yeah, I don't like Tetris, you didn't like Metroid, that's just it.

 

[Speedwagon]

They literally do nothing for me.

So you play video games to essentially get off?

re-evaluate your life.

 

[Tain]

You played 2 hours of MPT and you call it a third person shooter?

I'm assuming you meant to say "first".

I played way more than 2 hours of Metroid Prime and I think that outright refusing to compare it to games like Half-Life, Unreal, Deus Ex, and so on (which is one of the most common motivations behind the Prime genre argument, the other being to denigrate the FPS genre and elevate Prime above it entirely) is ridiculous.

 

[MYE]

I know I'm having eye problems lately but I'm pretty sure I wrote FPS.

Yes, I meant "first". I corrected my post.
Its not a TPS. Unless everything with guns and a first person view is a FPS to you.

 

[vasametropolis]

What the hell are you talking about?
People who love Gran Turismo properly don't wanna play Wipeout.
People who love Rayman properly don't wanna play Super Mario Bros.
Bu there still all part of the same genre. There simple have different game mechanics. Not every fighting games has to be a Street Fighter clone, like every racing game fan has to like all racing games.

The people you are referring to have no taste. Or, taste so poor I'd rather not speak to them ever.

 

[Amir0x]

Metroid Prime series is definitely a FPS, I'm not even sure why that's so offensive to people. It's a first person game in which you shoot people, it's a FPS. It's an FPS with an effective level of exploration and adventuring, but it's a FPS.

And two of them are also some of the best FPS ever made, so who cares at the label

 

[BlackJace]

Lol, somebody doesn't like a game you like, it's OK.

Derrick doesn't like 90% of the games I do, people enjoy different shit. Just enjoy whatever you do man

Nah I'm just playing, I'm familiar with Derrick.
Metroid Prime does happen to be my favorite game of all time though lol.

 

[tokkun]

I'm no hero, I'm no diplomat, and I look down my nose at anybody who can't enjoy Mario Galaxy, these people get my scorn. I'm a bad person, so what

Mario Galaxy is one of the easiest games I have played in years. I think I fell asleep one time while playing and woke up with 99 lives. I kept wondering when the tutorial levels would be finished all the way up to the end of the game.

I still don't understand why more people didn't have the same complaint, because I don't consider myself to be unusually good at videogames and I like Mario platformers in general.

 

[Schnozberry]

I think every game deserves to succeed or fail on it's own merits. Placing them all into a collective in order to denigrate them all is fatuous. I don't dislike all games made by anyone, and I haven't liked every game I've played from Nintendo, but I will give them all a shot.

We all live on limited resources. Holding an opinion that you generally like the first party platform games of one company over another is not an irrational reason to choose one platform over another. Where it becomes irritating is that many take that opinion beyond the limits of credulity, where they refuse to see fault in what they love and also refuse to see the greatness in what they hate. I think we're all guilty of it on some level, but it's the reason a lot of developers probably just ignore the noise these days. You can't tell if the criticism a game receives is just blind hatred based on misconceptions or actual insight from someone who gave a game an honest try and just couldn't get into it.

/But I digress.

 

[Superflat]

There are plenty of people who just didn't play Nintendo games or own a Nintendo system. It's only natural that they don't get the appeal when they're not familiar with Nintendo in general. Nintendo franchises are quite different in presentation and atmosphere, and those who only stuck to one side or the other won't get the appeal. Some say they have no desire to play Nintendo games and others say they have no desire to play PS3/360 games. In the end it seems like stereotypes that make these decisions.

I owned a N64 as my first Nintendo console and played Super Smash, Banjo Kazooie, Jet Force Gemini, Goldeneye, Rocket: Robot on Wheels, and Mario Kart, but that was about it; I didn't own that many games or an expansion pack. I didn't experience a large bulk of Nintendo's first party franchises as a kid like Metroid, Zelda, 2D/3D Mario, Pikmin, Donkey Kong, Star Fox, Kirby, etc.

After N64 I got a PS2, and after that, a PS3 so I still missed out on all those franchises. I can respect these games I never played, but only as much as a person who didn't play these games can.

 

[73V3N]

What the hell are you talking about?
People who love Gran Turismo properly don't wanna play Wipeout.
People who love Rayman properly don't wanna play Super Mario Bros.
Bu there still all part of the same genre. There simple have different game mechanics. Not every fighting games has to be a Street Fighter clone, like every racing game fan has to like all racing games.

You shouldn't make long replies to posts you don't even understand.

 

[Always-honest]

It absolutely is.

Your post was thread trolling, nothing more. That kind of comments will kill any chance on a healthy discussion.

 

[Riposte]

The back and forth between people saying "kiddie games, how immature" and people then saying "nuh-uh, those bloody war games are the immature ones" is really tiresome (the order doesn't matter, they react to each other). Maturity is what occurs in the person who interact with these games and by my account the lot of you come off as quite immature, denying pleasure in one way or another over image (hardly matters if its "childish" or "masculine" themes you are running away from). Maturity is easily one of the most misused concepts, in gaming or otherwise - my sanity would be better off if we on NeoGAF stopped invoking it completely.

As for this Nintendo thing, I don't know if there is really much to it. Some people don't care to recognize they've made serious contenders in various genres (which is not unexpected of "Nintendo" given the name broadly refers to a collection of teams, some of which are made up by very talented people, industry veterans in every sense of the word). If they don't care much about those genres outside their favorite games, it isn't worth a discussion. What is more interesting would be to discuss those games/genres individually. Otherwise you are just throwing a wide net for weird biases and, frankly, you don't need to look for those on NeoGAF.

 

[Doc Holliday]

It's the whole kiddy thing. Not enough mature content. I'm in my late twenties and Nintendo games are like a guilty pleasure for me. I like them probably mostly for the nostalgia since I grew up with Nintendo. But I feel so immature and childish playing them.
Skyward sword felt like such a kid's game, and it was embarrassing playing it in front of my wife.
Not to mention the shitty motion gimmicks. I felt like an idiot sitting there waving my wrist around.

That's your insecurity but I can see how you would feel that way. The funny thing is that super mario galaxy or any zelda game has way more depth than your typical shooter imo. If somehow Nintendo could make a "mature" game with that level of gameplay they would be set.

Metroid Prime is a uhm prime example of this btw.

 

[Mario007]

I enjoy good stories and character development in games. As such Nintendo offers virtually nothing for me. The kiddie art style and aesthetic (bar F-Zero and Metroid) doesn't help too much either.

 

[Windom Earle]

I don't dislike Nintendo games, but their output is not comparable to the 16 bit times. Just thinking about how watered down Zelda is these days makes me sad. Also SM World >>>> Galaxy.

 

[Boss Man]

I don't think someone saying, "I don't like Nintendo games." is the same thing as saying, "I have literally played every single game created by Nintendo and I do not like a single one of them at all."

 

[toddhunter]

Sorry if Missed it, but still waiting for that list of good nintendo games from the past two years besides fire emblem (which I am yet to be permitted to play).

I think that gives more perspective on why people may no longer like nintendo games. Bringing up really old great games makes a point, but I think one that is kind of redundant.

 

[MYE]

Metroid Prime series is definitely a FPS, I'm not even sure why that's so offensive to people. It's a first person game in which you shoot people, it's a FPS. It's an FPS with an effective level of exploration and adventuring, but it's a FPS.

And two of them are also some of the best FPS ever made, so who cares at the label

I dont find the FPS lable offensive at all. I just dont consider MPT first person shooters nor would I recommend them as such to someone new to the series.
Maybe the term FPS should be more broadly applied, but as it is used today I cant consider MP a first person shooter.

 

[Concept17]

I was listening to an interview with Jonathan Blow the other day and he said he didnt enjoy Mario Galaxy like, at all

blew my mind

I did not enjoy galaxy, like, at all.

Their franchises bore me, personally. That and it would be interesting to see Nintendo step away from their traditional art styles.

 

[AniHawk]

i replayed metroid prime a couple years ago on hard mode because i hate myself, and it's not much of a first-person shooter. it's more designed like a zelda game, in first-person, with a gun. that goes back to the comment about design elements feeling the same, i guess.

metroid prime is a first-person shooter the same way mirror's edge is a first-person shooter.

 

[Can Crusher]

Mostly because aside from one or two(let's keep this in perspective), they all seem like they were developed with the sort of sensibilities that appeal to children.

Either the art style, the characters, the worlds, etc

Nintendo's failure to create new big hit franchises that appeal to an older crowd has damaged their perception as a brand (unlike Disney for example), to that older crowd.

 

[Opiate]

If I were to give an explanation for why I don't personally like most of Nintendo's games, it's that I like games which simultaneously have low skill floors (i.e. how hard it is to get in to the games, which Nintendo does quite well) but also high skill ceilings (i.e. how rewarded one is for high skill levels, which I think Nintendo is almost deliberately poor at).

Of course, games on Sony and Microsoft's consoles also suffer from this, so in my particular case Nintendo is not the exception here. I have no more interest in dudebro games than I do a cheery platformer, if neither of them is challenging and deep. Frankly, a lack of depth is something the vast majority of modern games suffer from, so this thread could just as easily be about Microsoft or Electronic Arts and I'd be saying nearly the same thing.

I have very demanding expectations in this regard. Generally, if I can "beat" a game within 1 month (Whatever "beat" means in context), then I'm probably not interested.

 

[Mihael Mello Keehl]

No that concept is easy and understandable.
Unfortunately i don't think that's the only reason. I think there is at least some level of ignorance, insecurity, stubbornness or fanboyism, (etc). involved with some of the people who say they don't like anything that Nintendo makes. I'm prepared to believe that is only a small percentage though. It's not like i could ever prove it anyway and i don't really care if people limit themselves in any way. I consider myself blessed that i can find joy and challenge in most genres on almost any format. Same with music, books, movies, and even people.

This is epic and so true. I feel the same way.

 

[Amir0x]

I dont find the FPS lable offensive at all. I just dont consider MPT first person shooters nor would I recommend them as such to someone new to the series.
Maybe the term FPS should be more broadly applied, but as it is used today I cant consider MP a first person shooter.

I am not sure why you wouldn't. The only things that define FPS are if they are in first person and if you shoot things. But every angle of the word, that's what it is. There are FPS with all different types of approaches, and it'd be fair to call Metroid Prime both an action/adventure game AND a FPS, but it is definitely a FPS.

And unlike Mirror's Edge as in Anihawk's comment, shooting IS one of the primary focuses of the game, and in Mirror's Edge you can play through everything without even shooting a single bullet and everything is made to encourage precisely that. Even still, I'd say calling it a FPS is an appropriate qualifier, it's just other things as well.

 

[Hex]

As has been said, it is different tastes.
I really think that the op has way too much invested in this.
I mean, I get every Pokemon game that comes out for nostalgia, and because I my gf always gets the opposite one and we play together but every single time I get about half way through and realize that I really have done this before...alot..but I still buy it and still do it and still do every download event and gamestop and toys r us event and dreamworld event and pokewalker when they had it.
I can appreciate the art style and the fun of each new Mario offering, and I will play them with friends but not nearly enough to buy them.
I rocked out on wii sports and wii sports resort, I loved Mario Galaxy. Mario Galaxy 2 was fun but again it did not wow me as much as Galaxy.
I like some of the references in Haunted Mansion, but again I wouldn't buy it so I just play my gf's son's copy now and then but I know I will never finish it because I am already over it.
I am not opposed to "NINTENDOS" games. I still rock my 3DS , I streetpass like a fiend, I make miis.
Nintendo just needs to break out of their comfort zone.
Miyamoto comes off like some wanna be Willy Wonka these days who did not know when to get into the Great Glass elevator , and it is kind of sad.
They have nothing to worry about, a game with the name Mario or Zelda will sell boat loads no matter what and to be honest you will never get a bad game.
Just my opinion.

 

[Tathanen]

It's the whole kiddy thing. Not enough mature content. I'm in my late twenties and Nintendo games are like a guilty pleasure for me. I like them probably mostly for the nostalgia since I grew up with Nintendo. But I feel so immature and childish playing them.
Skyward sword felt like such a kid's game, and it was embarrassing playing it in front of my wife.
Not to mention the shitty motion gimmicks. I felt like an idiot sitting there waving my wrist around.

This is kinda silly. Just cause I feel literally the opposite way. A game that's very violent or sexual, or at worst that has any cursing in it, I feel EXTREMELY embarrassed to play in front of my wife. Don't have have that problem with movies or TV, but video games? It feels an order of magnitude more juvenile to me than something more "family friendly" like your typical Nintendo game. I literally feel like I am 12. "Wow why am I playing this."

 

[Metal B]

You shouldn't make long replies to posts you don't even understand.

Here an tip for you: Make a longer post that makes your point more understandable. Right now you didn't make a clear statement.

 

[gngf123]

I like games which simultaneously have low skill floors (i.e. how hard it is to get in to the games, which Nintendo does quite well) but also high skill ceilings (i.e. how rewarded one is for high skill levels, which I think Nintendo is almost deliberately poor at).

I actually feel that this is one of Nintendo's specialties. Although, maybe that is just my old Pokemon metagame playing days shining through.

 

[Boss Man]

If I'm painting with a broad brush, I'd say Nintendo's game's are brilliantly designed but also not aiming to accomplish much. They're 'simpler', but in a way that can easily be construed as good. Some people prefer that, some don't. It's that way to target its demographic, but there's still something appealing to it. Some people just don't get as much out of it though.

 

[BGBW]

Sorry if Missed it, but still waiting for that list of good nintendo games from the past two years besides fire emblem (which I am yet to be permitted to play).

No one will give you a list because they always end up being a waste of time because the requester usually turns around and says "none of those interest me"

I could point out Luigi's Mansion 2 that came out recently but I bet kayos90's bottom dollar you'll tell me that isn't a good game.

 

[Arklite]

It probably is a lot of "judging by cover," their main franchises seem to follow preset tone, content, and gameplay consistently. It's something that keeps a lot of people coming back, but also keeps critics uninterested.